540 



THE GAllDEN AND FIELD. 



May, 1914 



Notes for May. 



Where Cabbages or Cauliflowers are 

 attacked by the green caterpillars (Plii- 

 tella cruciferarum) treatment should be 

 applied at once, or the plants will be 

 ruined. Tar water is recommended as 

 a cheap and effective remedy. Boil 

 water, rain water for preference, or add 

 a little soda. Then while it is boiling 

 add tar, a few drops at a time, keeping 

 it stirred. It will dissolve slowly, and 

 the water will not take up much. This 

 can be applied with a water-can, but 

 better with a spray pump. 



Early sown Parsnips, Carrots, and 

 Turnips require to be thinned out to 

 about 3 to 6 inches apart according to 

 the sizes usually attained by the varie- 

 ties planted. 



Make sowings of Cabbages, Cauliflow- 

 ers, Broccoli. Lettuces, Onions, and 

 Beets for future transplantings, and 

 each fortnight make a small sowing of 

 Radishes, Cresses, and Spinach. 



Continue planting out Cabbages, Cauli- 

 flowers, Broccoli, and Kohlrabbi at 

 every opportunity. All of these require 

 well enriched soil, and manure strong 

 and fresh may be worked irtto the soil. 



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Amount at Credit of Estates, Trusts 

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IRKCTOUS.— W. J. Mairarey, J. P., (Chairman 

 W. Ilerhert Chillips, Ksq , \. A. Jessop , .J.P 

 H. C. E. Muecke, J.P., Richard Smith, .1.1'. 

 E. W. Van Benden, Esq. 



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OKKICg3-22 ORENKKLI- STREET, ADELAIDE 

 Mana/er, E. \V. Williamgon, A.I.A.V. 

 Ami. Manager, W. W. Carter. 



Old Asparagus beds, if not already 

 cleaned of last year's growths, should 

 be cut free of them at once. They arc 

 cut down to the surface of the bed. 

 The growth should then be lightly fork- 

 ed, and a good dressing of stable man- 

 ure, ashes, poultry droppings, super- 

 phosphates, or other fertiliser should be 

 spread over, and a moderate quantity of 

 common salt sown over the surface and 

 forked in. Young beds of Asparagus 

 may be planted any time during the 

 next three months. 



Onions should be planted out after 

 working the soil up finely. These suc- 

 ceed best in free, open soil. If the plants 

 are grown pretty large in the seed-beds, 

 it will be advisable to cut the roots off 

 cleanly to about a couple of inches long, 

 and to cut the tops back to a certain 

 extent. This practice does not seem to 

 have any very injurious effects, and faci- 

 litates the operation of dibbering in the 

 plants. The young onions are set about 

 six or eight inches apart in ordinary 

 soils, but wider apart in rich ones. The 

 rows need only be a foot wider. 



When inserting the roots of Onion 

 plants, care should be taken to place 

 them straight down into the hole, and 

 the soil must be pressed firmly against 

 them, but the base of the stem should 

 not be buried, as the Onion forms and 

 swells better when only half covered 

 \ith soil. Ordinary wood ashes are 

 useful in forming onion beds, having 

 both mechanical and manurial effects. 



Peas and Broad Beans may be sown, 

 but in wet spots, where the soil becomes 

 somewhat stagnated, they will not thrive 

 just now. Early sown Peas will re- 

 quire staking and the soil loosening fre- 

 quently between the rows. The soil 

 should be kept stirred as often as prac- 

 ticable between growing crops. 



Where danger from frost is rare pota- 

 toes may be planted, using small sets 

 about the size of a hen's egg. Uncut 

 tubers are generally considered best, and 

 seed potatoes should be procured from 

 a different locality each year, if possible. 

 These like good, rich, loose soils, and 

 are benefited by potash manures, perhaps 

 in small gardens most readily supplied 

 liy wood ashes. The sets are usually 

 planted four inches deep, and, of course, 

 should be "started" to sprout before 

 planting is done. 



Garlic, Tree Onions, and Shallots may 

 be planted now. 



Suckers of Globe Artichoke should be 

 planted now, and young plants raised 

 from good seed. 



Keep on planting beds of salad plants. 



If slugs are troublesome, go out every 

 evening and dust with dry air-slaked 

 lime. A few specks settling on a slug 

 will kill it. This is the simplest plan, 

 although it is apt to make the bed look 

 untidy. 



Tube rs of Jerusalem Artichoke may 

 be planted any time during the next 

 three months. This is a much neglected 

 vegetable. 



Earth up Celery, and plant out later 



sowings. 



Early planted Celery is now fully 

 grown, and should be earthed up to 

 blanch. This is done by drawing the 

 earth into the trench and banking it 

 around the plants until only the green 

 tops are showing. Before doing this 

 remove all dead or damaged leaves; see 

 that no grubs or worms are present, and 

 tie the stalks lightly together to prevent 

 soil from getting into the heart. If 

 there is no trench a board on edge may 

 be fixed on each side of the row and 

 the space between filled with soil. A 

 drain pipe slipped over each plant is 

 also effective, and some people use cy- 

 linders of brown paper, but the soil it- 

 self imparts a sweeter and more nutty 

 flavour. 



The amount of seed for a given area 

 of ground is approximately as fol- 

 lows : — Cabbage and cauliflower, for a 

 seed bed of 8 square yards (say 12 feet 

 X 6 feet), 1 oz. ; carrot, 1 oz. for 50 

 yards ; onion, 1 oz. for 50 yards ; parsnip, 

 1 oz. for 60 yards; spinach and turnip, 

 1 oz. for 40 yards ; dwarf peas, 1 pint 

 for 25 yards ; medium peas. 1 pint for 

 30 yds. ; broad beans, 1 pint for 30 yds. ; 

 lettuce, 1 oz. for bed of 16 square yards ; 

 radish, 1 oz. for 6 square yards. Cab- 

 bage, cauliflower, and turnip should ap- 

 pear above the soil in 6 to 10 days ; spin- 

 ach, 10 to 20 days; onions, 10 to 15 days; 

 carrots, 12 to 20 days; parsnips, 14 to 21 

 days ; beans, 7 to 14 days ; peas, 7 to 21 

 days ; lettuce, 6 to 10 days. 



An effectual method of protecting 

 newly-sown peas from birds, mice and 

 slugs is said to be half an inch of saw- 

 dust strewn over the drill after the peas 

 have been raked in. Any kind of saw- 

 dust will do, but pine is the best, and 

 yellow deal the worst. Mice will not at- 



